June 8-12

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As of Monday, there are 5 classes left (3 for C.Civ. 12 as your final exam is during the last two classes. Now is the time to begin preparing for final examinations. 1) Be sure all assignments are complete. 2) Set aside regular time to study for the final.

Need help figuring out how to study? Go to my study skills web page.

Social Studies 11 Honours

To save time, I will test "Government" as a single unit in, probably, the 2nd from last class. This will be a very big test with an extensive multiple-choice component. The subjective section of the exam will have to be shorter than usual to allow for this -- but you will need to study for subjective writing for the final exam in any case. A minimum of 50 flash cards will be needed to earn 5 bonus marks for this test.

The Mark breakdown for the Government test on Thursday is as follows:

85 multiple choice questions (1 mark each) and four from 9 Long answer questions (6 marks each). The total number of marks is, therefore 109 marks -- though with 5 bonus marks it is possible to earn 1114/109.

It is essential that you are currently preparing to write the Provincial Final Exam. This is not a test that you can cram for with one or two days to go. You must become familiar with what to expect on the final exam and comfortable with the format of the test. Go to the ministry sites ( Frequently asked questions page, table of specifications, key verb list, & scoring criteria) to see how the exam is put together and look at past exams -- in fact you should write the sample test and look at the posted key to see how you do. To see how to approach the essay questions, look at this document provided to train markers of the exzm. Link from my web page on writing the SS11 final, and also see my PowerPoint on how to approach the test.

• Monday, June 8 - Take up #1, p. 297, #2-3 sidebar p. 303, #1 & 3, p. 304, #3, p. 308 & #2, p. 312. Students should have looked at the remainder of the PowerPoint that we did not complete on Friday. Filmstrip -- Provincial Government. Government (red) texts. Read pp. 170-178. Do #1-3, p. 178. Read pp. 240-244. Do Fig. 9-19 p. 241, #2, sidebar, p. 244 #1-4, p. 246.
• Tuesday, June 9 - Take up homework. Federal and Provincial governments compared. Municipal government introduced. Video & questions on Provincial and Municipal Government. Read (red book) pp. 186-196. Do #1-6, p 196.
• Wednesday, June 10 - Take up homework. Mayor Mussatto's PowerPoint on Municipal government. Prepare for Government Unit Test on Thursday.
• Thursday, June 11 - Government Unit Test. Study for the final exam.
• Friday, June 12 - Provincial Exam Preparation. Preparing for the Social Studies 11 Final Exam PowerPoint.

History 12

You should continue to work on the questions beyond #50, which was collected last week. Many of you still have overdue work, which must be handed in as quickly as possible. I will mark everything I receive in time to submit the mark to Victoria -- but after this week it will be first come, first served. The mark you are given this week may, therefore, be lower than the one that is forwarded to the Ministry.

If we are unable to get the exam prep class on Friday, because material overflows -- highly likely -- we will set up an exam prep time slot during the exam schedule. I will schedule two times if necessary.

Watch as much of the video material linked to below as possible. We simply do not have time to do so in class, but it is extremely helpful.

• Monday, June 8 - Maoist and post-Maoist China (base notes). At home, watch the History Channel video Mao Declassified, which deals with the Cultural Revolution. Music videos give an interesting insight into Maoist culture. Watch Song of Dragon River I link to the first part).
• Tuesday, June 9 - The Middle East Since 1956 (base notes). If you have the time, watch the History Channel's Battlefield Detectives; Israel's Six Day War and also Modern Warfare: Yom Kippur War (1973). If you are interested in Israel's Weapons of Mass Destruction, watch the BBC's Correspondence: Israel's Secret Weapon. See the situation from the Palestinian perspective in the BBC's Clash of the Worlds; Palestine . Look at modern attitudes in the region through music videos with the following: Yallah ya Nasrallah (an anti-Arab Jewish song with English subtitles, , Moon Erhabo (Anti-Israeli Rap), and watch this short documentary on Palestinian Hip Hop -- oddly popular with Israeli youth, Hadag Nahash -- the Sticker Song (with English subtitles).
• Wednesday, June 10 - The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism (base notes). A fascinating BBC documentary that compares the rise of radical islamists and American neo-conservatives is The Power of Nightmares. The Irish documentary Whose Afraid of Islam is an interesting look at cultural struggles. Watch and listen to the songs of the Iranian Revolution: Example 1 - Tribute to Imam Khomeini (with English subtitles), Example 2, Example 3 - Khamenei is Our Leader (With a speech by the Iranian cleric at the start), Example 4 - Iranian song supporting Palestinians against Israel.
• Thursday, June 11 - Southern Africa and the Fall of Apartheid (base notes). Watch Charlie Rose's interview with F.W. De Klerk, the Afrikaaner who brought an end to apartheid. How can white and black reconcile in South Africa? Watch Spear Cleansing (23 minutes, about Letlapa Mphalele, who ordered the killing of whites, and Ginn Fourie, who's daughter was killed on the order of Mphalele. Both are now friends and colleagues. A good historical treatment of the lives of human rights leaders Gandhi and Mandela is Together We Lit Up the Sky. Music was a powerful weapon in the anti-apartheid movement. Johnny Clegg, a white student of Zulu music and dance, wrote hugely popular music, often with a strongly propolitical bent. Watch and listen to: Scatterlings of Africa, African Rain, Siyayilanda, Asibonanga, One Man, One Vote, Great Heart, I Call Your Name, and Dela. Clegg continues to sing in support of human rights and I also link to The Revolution Will Eat Its Children, a song against Black dictator Robert Mugabe, of Zimbabwe. For something a little different, try Nwampfundla. ...and in response, a revival of Boer nostalgia from when the Boers once fought against all odds in the Boer war - Delarey.
• Friday, June 12 - Finish anything that we were unable to complete earlier and work on exam preparation. Click here for the PowerPoint Presentation that starts the review material.

Comparative Civilizations 12

The final examination is on Thursday and Friday of this week -- Friday's class is a shortened block and I take this into account in setting the test.

The mark breakdown for the Final Exam is as follows:

Day 1: Slide identification - 50 items -- give the name of the work, the creator, and the specific period of the piece -- you therefore have three chances to score 2 marks for each item (100 marks, with a further 15 mark bonus possible). Part 2 requires that you provide labelled floorplan and elevation diagrams -- 2 items, valued at 10 marks each. Part 3 involves writing one from a choice of around 9 essay topics. There is something here for everybody (18 marks - 1 x 6 for composition and 2 x 6 for content). Day 1 is therefore out of 138 marks - but 153 can be earned.

Day 2: 100 multiple choice questions (1 mark each) for a total of 100 marks on Day 2.

The Final Exam is, therefore, out of 238 marks and it is scaled to a mark worth 15% of the year's total value.

• Monday, June 8 - Painters - Rubens and Velasquez. Sister Wendy segments. Work on final package. England's National Gallery has a nice podcast on their Velasquez exhibit, with great information on the artist and his work.
• Tuesday, June 9 - Painters -- Carravaggio and Gentilleschi. Video clip on Caravaggio's technique. Sister Wendy segments. Work on final package. Watch Simon Schama's video on The Power of Art; Caravaggio - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 (59 minutes). There is a good feature film on Gentilleschi, Artemisia. This is worth watching if you can acquire a copy.
• Wednesday, June 10 - The Dutch Masters - Minor masters (Potter, Avercamp, De Hooch and others) and the Majors - Hals, Vermeer and Rembrandt. Sister Wendy segments. Work on final package. If you get the opportunity, the feature film The Girl With a Pearl Earing, is a nice evening's viewing. Regretfully, the Simon Schama documentary The Power of Art: Rembrandt is no longer available online -- if you can find a copy and watch it, it is well worth the effort.
• Thursday, June 11 - Day 1 of the Final Examination.
• Friday, June 12 - Day 2 of the Final Examination.